Through the first five-and-a-half years of coach David Bailiff's tenure at Rice, coaches around Conference USA spoke glowingly of the job he was doing at the school with some of the highest admission standards in the FBS.

Respect for Rice was everywhere, even when the wins weren't.

Six games into this season it was more of the same. The Owls played competitively and scored lots of points, but with a 1-5 record, they seemed headed to their usual meaningless November.

Then that foundation Rice had been building for half a decade suddenly came to fruition in the space of a a few games. When the Owls come to the Sun Bowl on Saturday, they'll bring a 5-6 record after winning four of five, needing a victory over UTEP to gain bowl eligibility for the first time since 2008.

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Bret Bloomquist

"We haven't had a game over Thanksgiving that's been this meaningful since I've been here," said Rice junior quarterback Taylor McHargue, whose return to health after a mid-season injury coincided with Rice's surge. "We're excited about this.

"We started holding everybody accountable. There were two or three games we should have won, but we didn't, and guys started holding people accountable, stop making mistakes.

"Three weeks in a row we've done a good job with that, not making many turnovers, cut down on mental errors."

"The three past games are the best we've played this year," Bailiff said, noting that none were better than last week's 36-14 thumping of SMU. "It all worked together -- the defense creating turnovers, the offense holding on to the football, the special teams were great."

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That special teams comment was an understatement. Against SMU, Chris Boswell tied an NCAA record with three field goals of 50 yards or more -- 56, 51 and 53 -- and was 5-of-5 for the game.

"We want touchdowns, but I can live with that," Bailiff said.

What makes this season so special for Rice is that the Owls are ahead of schedule.

"We only have seven seniors on the football team," Bailiff said of a group that includes three tight ends and three starters. "The bulk of this football team is going to be back, and every year we're improving."

McHargue sees that.

"We've done a good job of building up talent every year since I've been here," said McHargue, who leads the team in both rushing (611 yards) and passing (1,971). "We're still young, but each year we've developed young guys. Now we have a big junior class. That's been the biggest turnaround."

The biggest turnaround within this season was when he got healthy, as McHargue was injured at the end of a big Rice comeback against Marshall. He led the team back from a 41-31 hole and put them on the verge of a victory with a 47-yard run to the Thundering Herd 2-yard line in the final minute.

But, trailing 41-38, he injured his shoulder on that run after his 467th total yard of offense. Rice settled for a field goal and eventually lost in double overtime, 54-51, to fall to 1-3. McHargue didn't play the next week against Houston and Rice was blown out, and his effectiveness was limited the next few weeks, which included a 14-10 loss to Memphis.

"Missing Houston, that wasn't fun and the next couple of weeks I wasn't completely healthy," McHargue said. "Now I'm getting back to where I had been."

If he can lead Rice to one more win, the payoff will be the first postseason appearance of his career.

"That helps everywhere," he said. "That helps the guys here, it helps the coaching staff, it helps recruiting, it helps the fan base."

Those are the stakes for Rice Saturday.

Bret Bloomquist may be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; 546-6359. Follow him on Twitter @bretbloomquist.

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What: UTEP"vs. Rice in a Conference USA football game and the Miners final game of the season.